It was rather obvious that the pairing of Quantum Bellator Fire with G2 Esports in the Legends Stage could only end with a defeat for QBF. G2 Esports defeated QBF by twelve rounds, a decisive victory if there ever was one. However, the real focus of the Challengers stage was the match between SK Gaming and FaZe Clan. It seems that SK Gaming’s team meta is really damaged by not having boltz on the team, because they failed against FaZe Clan.

SK Gaming didn’t do too badly against FaZe Clan

It’s just that their play was noticeably less effective than when they put down FaZe in the finals of the ESL Pro League. The map they played here was Cache, and the first half was dominated by SK gaming, with them winning ten rounds out of fifteen, but they completely lost the second half as counter terrorists. SK Gaming have never before lost a match in Cache, though FaZe Clan have a win rate in Cache that is equal to theirs. But without boltz, it was as if SK Gaming lacked a member, and were facing FaZe four-against-five. Even FalleN was no match for GuardiaN’s AWP skills in this match. Now Faze Clan and G2 Esports can concentrate on the New Champions Stage, which will start on the 26th of January.

Image Credit: FaZe Clan

Quantum Bellator Fire Vs mousesports – Sure Win

After their initial run of successes, Quantum Bellator Fire are now being paired against the best teams in the world, and losing out. First they went up against G2 and lost, and now they face mousesports. This is a match that mousesports cannot really lose. They are a team that have been showing excellent play for the past few months, and very consistently, so there is no chance that QBF will win here.

QBF have been going down before tier one teams, both in the Challengers and the Legends Stage. Quantum Bellator Fire will still have a chance to remain in the event, as the losers of the High Matches get one more chance to stay in the event in Round 5. This may be the last sure win this week, so make sure you place a stake on mousesports, with the odds on them running at 1.19. Small odds, but a larger stake can still garner winnings.

Gambit Esports Vs SK Gaming

SK Gaming have a very good chance here to make up for ground lost against FaZe Clan. They have faced Gambit many times in the past, and out of six LAN matches played, have won five. SK Gaming clearly dominate Gambit Esports. Another interesting fact is that Gambit were not able to take on an SK Gaming that (at that point) did not yet have boltz on their team. Though the odds are fairly low at 1.36, it is still worth putting your money on SK Gaming.

Fnatic Vs Natus Vincere

Here’s a match up between two teams that have been playing fairly incompetently. Yes, Fnatic have been doing better than Virtus.pro and Astralis, while Natus Vincere have put down BIG and Team Liquid. However, that doesn’t say much for them, since the losing teams there were doing fairly badly at this event in any case. Both of these teams are playing equally badly, so who loses here is just a question of who manages to be the most incompetent. At the moment, both teams show equal talent there, so don’t put your money on this match.

These are the most carefully formulated match predictions, by analysts who thoroughly study team histories and playing styles. Stay tuned for more match-by-match analyses and predictions for this event. Don’t forget to follow us on Twitter and Facebook for the latest on your favourite Esports titles.